Page 130 of Voidwalker
Antal perched at the edge of the bluff, tail twitching. Nervous? In their planning, he’d tried to explain to Fi the logistical difficulties of teleporting onto a moving object, but he’d assured her he could do it. Watching him now didn’t fill her with confidence. He squinted at the train, eyes ticking back and forth, as if muddling through internal calculations.
He offered his hand. Did she trust him? Absolutely not. Did she have another option?
Also no.
The teleport passed in a lurch.
Fi slammed onto metal, the world roaring around her, momentum hitting her chest like… well, atrain.
She Shaped a shield of energy over her arms as she tumbled overtop the speeding cargo car, wind whipping her hair, sleek metal roof panels offering no handholds. She flailed. Her fingers scraped rivets. Seams. Then at last, a rail, enough to latch on and stop herself slipping off.
Beside her came a scrape of claws. Fi saw a flash of Antal’s wide eyes.
Then he fell over the side of the moving train.
“Antal!”
She lunged, grabbing his hand before he disappeared intooblivion. His weight hit her. Fi cried out, nails cracking against the rail as she fought to hold on, the single anchor for both of them as Antal dangled over the side of the car. Cold wind sliced her cheeks.
In her clammy grasp, Antal’s hand slipped. She gritted her teeth. Panic sharpened her pulse as she realized she wasn’t strong enough to pull him up.
“Fionamara.” Antal’s shout fought the wind.
He sounded more… chiding than expected. Fi peered over the edge. Instead of finding a panicked daeyari clinging to her hand, Antal hung unconcerned, one foot braced against the train, a single brow arched.
He yanked his hand out of hers. Then vanished.
Static pricked Fi’s tongue as he reappeared beside her, still with a wobble, but better poise than his first attempt.
“Fi. I canteleport,” he reminded her blandly.
Her cheeks lit on fire. She pulled herself into a more stable perch atop the train, hissing as she shook out aching fingers.
“Of course,” she said. “I know that. Just got caught up in the moment was all.”
Antal studied her with face pinched. Then, a slow-spreading smirk.
“Were you worried about me?” he asked.
“No.”
“Were you trying to save me?”
“Why would I ever do something stupid like that?”
Fi blocked out his shit-eating grin and moved to the top hatch of the train car.
With the silver flash of an energy dagger, she pried open the lock, then she and Antal dropped into the dark interior. The walls rattled, metal rumbling over rails. She pressed a panel to activate overhead lights, illuminating a load of conductive metalsheets wound into massive coils for transport. Not the side of a heist Fi was used to running, but she saw the thrill of it.
Fortunately, base metal didn’t require a security detail. The greater challenge was getting a few coils off the train, but this was where Fi’s plan came in. A scheme so brilliant, Antal and Boden had both gawked at her during the proposal: Boden in abject horror, Antal with a gleam Fi had devoured like candy.
She and Antal moved into position at the back of the car.
Aclack clacksounded from the wheels, louder than the normal din. Any passengers in the cars ahead would probably discount the noise, but Fi noted her signal, grooves carved onto the rail line during their heist preparation. She braced her hands against a metal coil and readied a pulse of energy, carving heat from her forearms.
At the front of the car, a Curtain appeared.
It shouldn’t have been there, nor anywhere close to the tracks. Fi spent the last few days cutting strategic openings for the train to pass through, invisible to normal passengers. As the train barreled forward, the Curtain flew toward them. Fi and Antal shoved a current of energy into the conductive metal coil then reeled back. Cold raked over her as the Curtain passed, leaving her on the Plane.
